Floor cleaning apparatus



Feb. 8, 1966 2. J. JAGIEL FLOOR CLEANING APPARATUS Filed July 5, 1963 INVENTOR. ZIGMUND J. JAGIEL affornczqs- United States Patent 3,233,267 FLOOR CLEANING APPARATUS Zigmund Joseph .lagiel, 3106 Algonquin Parkway, Toledo 6, Ohio Filed July 3, 1963, Ser. No. 292,540 5 Claims. (Cl. 15-52) This invention relates to cleaning machinery and more particularly to the cleaning head and cleaning elements for machines of the type commonly known as floor scrubbers.

Heretofore it has been common practice to clean floors by the use of a machine which applies a cleaning solution to an area which is operated upon by a series of rotating brushes or pads and to advance the machine across the floor so that a squeegee and vacuum pickup removes the cleaning fluid and the dirt loosened by the cleaning process. The cleaning process is performed as a scrubbing or abrading process by the use of circular brushes or pads of metal Wool rotated about a central axis normal to their circular face and maintained generally perpendicular or by a cylindrical brush rotated about a longitudinal axis which is generally horizontal. In many instances this type of machine has been found unsatisfactory particularly as applied to asphalt, rubber and vinyl floor coverings which are severely soiled as in areas utilized by the public. Frequently it is necessary to employ special stripping techniques and solutions to remove deep soil from such floors wherein machines of this nature are entirely unsatisfactory and much of the operation must be performed by hand.

An object of this invention is to improve the known floor scrubbing machines, particularly the scrubbing head and cleaning elements.

Another object is to reduce the complexity of the floor scrubbing head and the cleaning elements driven by the head while held in contact with the surface to be cleaned.

Another object is to increase the eflicacy of cleaning of a power-driven floor cleaning machine.

In accordance with the above objections, one feature consists of cleaning a surface by driving a working face of neoprene across the surface in sliding relationship thereto while applying cleaning solution such as wax and water to the region between the working face and the surface.

A second feature of this invention resides in utilizing as the cleaning medium in a floor scrubbing machine a head composed of an elastomer such as neoprene of a configuration to carry cleaning solution into the region between the scrubbing element and the floor covering while substantial pressure is maintained between the element and the covering.

Another feature of the cleaning element of this invention resides in the use of a composite pad of fabric bonded together with an elastomer such as neoprene and in particular, a multilayer cleaning element of a plurality of cotton fabric layers bonded with neoprene.

An additional feature involves a multilayer cleaning element of fabric and an impregnating elastomer which is applied to the surface to be cleaned wtih the edges of the fabric elastorner pile-up in contact therewith.

Another feature resides in a simplified drive for a scrubbing head involving a single rotating shaft generally parallel to the surface to be cleaned arranged to carry a plurality of floor scrubbing elements.

A further feature involves a floor scrubber made up of a neoprene bonded fabric laminate of the type conveniently used for conveyor belting having a form in the major plane of a circle having parallel segments removed. A group of such elements are mounted on a horizontal drive shaft of the machine with their major faces normal to the axis of the shaft and with successive elements positioned thereon so that the chords defining the absent segments of the circles are in quadrature. This arrangement produces a scrubbing head when clamped upon the shaft in the form of a cross when viewed along the shaft axis so that the ends of the cross arms engage the surface to be cleaned. The arms of the cross are permitted a limited degree of flexure by virtue of their spacing with respect to every other scrubber element in the head assembly to conform to minor irregularities in the surface upon which they are to operate. The defined configuration of elements also enables the cleaning fluid to be carried into the region between the scrubbing elements and the surface by the rotation of the shaft upon which the elements are carried. In order to enhance the flexibility of the scrubbing elements and improve the cleaning fluid distribution, slits are formed in the arcuate ends of the cross arms, said slits advantageously being inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the major face of the cleaning elements. Rotation of the cleaning head while it is pressed against the surface being cleaned and utilizing conventional cleaning solutions such as a combination of wax and water oflers results in the removal of stains far superior to any heretofore attained with existing commercial equipment without undue wear to the floor covering.

A still further feature of this invention resides in combining the elastomer impregnated fabric cleaning ele ments with other cleaning elements. One arrangement providing this combination is to utilize cylindrical cleaning elements and to mount cleaning elements in the region bounded by a right circular cylinder coaxial with and having essentially the same diameter as the major dimension transverse of the axis of a cleaning head as described in the preceding paragraph and the chords of those individual cleaning units which do not overlap their adjacent units. These cleaning element cylinders are carried across the surface to be cleaned by the rotation of the cleaning head assembly about its horizontal axis so that the surface is contacted alternately by the edges of the elastomer impregnated fabric cleaning elements and the additional cleaning elements.

The above and additional objects and features of this invention will be more fully appreciated from the following detailed description when read with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a conventional floor scrubbing machine having the improved scrubbing head and scrubbing units of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective of a pair of scrubbing units oriented with respect to each other as they would be wh n mounted adjacent each other upon the drive shaft of the machine to form elements of the scrubbing head;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the scrubbing head, its mounting and drive means illustrated with the machine cover removed to reveal certain details of the construction;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the scrubber head shown in its operating position with the spray curtain removed to reveal details of its construction;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a scrubber head having cylindrical brushes secured in the space bounded by a cylinder of essentially the diameter of the crossed scrubber units and the chords of those units; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective of another form of cleaning unit according to this invention.

The machine illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a chassis mounted upon four wheels 11 and 12. The wheels 11 may be fixed with respect to the chassis while the wheels 12 may be mounted on castors to facilitate directing the machine. A housing 13 embraces the chassis and may contain a supply tank for cleaning fluid (not shown), a tank (not shown) for receiving the soiled fluid and a vacuum mechanism (not shown) for cooperating with the squeegee pickup 14 to remove the soiled fluid from the floor area which has been cleaned and to deliver it to the tank. The machine is directed manually by means of handles 15 near its upper surface adjacent which is provided a clutch lever 16 to engage drive Wheels 11 with the driving motor. A squeegee control lever 17 also projects from the rear of the machine and provides a control for raising or lowering the squeegee head 14. Various cleanout and access ports to the internal mechanism of the machine (not shown) can be provided in the housing 13 to facilitate its maintenance.

The front end of the machine is provided with a scrubbing head which is pivoted around the pintle 13 and is biased toward the floor on which the machine is to operate by a spring 19 as seen in FIG. 3 operating upon a lever 21 secured to the frame 22 of the head. Tension upon the biasing spring 19 can be adjusted by means of the eye bolt and wing nut combination 23 passing through the front face of machine housing 13.

Scrubber head frame 22 includes a plane major surface 24 which, in the operating position, generally parallels the inclined front face of machine cabinet 13 and is turned back upon itself at 25 as best seen in FIG. 3 to provide a distribution trough for cleaning fluid. Fluid is suppliedby a suitable conduit 26 extending from the cleaning fluid reservoir (not shown) to one or more distributor heads 27 from which it flows over the face 24 into the trough 25 and through the apertures 28 above and slightly in advance of the major portion of the scrubber elements. Cleaning fluid flows from apertures 28 by gravity onto the rotating scrubber elements and the surface being cleaned. In order to avoid splattering the cleaning fluid, a curtain 29, conveniently of some fiexible material such as rubber sheeting, is suspended from a rod 31 over the fluid conduits 26 and 27, the trough 28 and down in front of the scrubber elements to a position closely adjacent the floor slightly in advance of the scrubber elements. immediately behind the scrubber elements a second curtain 352 of similar material is suspended from a rod 33 secured to the machine housing 13 in a manner similar to the rod 31 to avoid splattering of the cleaning fluid by the rotating scrubber units to the rear of those units.

The scrubber head frame 22 includes sides 34 and 35 integral with and extending at right angles from face 24 to cooperate with the pintle 18 hingedly mounted on the chassis to support drive shaft 36 upon which the scrubber units are mounted. Suitable bearings are secured to the side elements 34 and 35 to sustain shaft 36 for rotation about its longitudinal axis and a sheave or pulley 37 is keyed to the shaft to provide means for driving it in rotation from a belt 38 trained over an idler pulley 39 mounted for rotation on side 34, and a drive pulley 41 coupled by a suitable transmission 42 to a driving motor contained within machine housing 13.

The machine operates upon the floor by means of scrubber elements 43 which are assembled into a scrubber group 144 as a stack of elements with adjacent elements displaced in quadrature with respect to each other. Thus as viewed in FIG. 2, the foremost element 43 is shown with its longitudinal axis generally vertical while the rearmost element is shown with its longitudinal axis horizontal. All of the scrubber elements may be of similar geometry. They are composed of laminations of cloth such as cotton embedded in an elastomer such as neoprene. This material is commercially available as conveyor belting. Each element can be considered to have a geometry in its major surface of a circle having equal segments removed from opposite sides to make parallel edges or chords 44 and arcuate ends 45. The center of the.

circle is pierced by a circular aperture 46 for the reception of shaft 36. In order to increase the flexibility of the scrubber elements so that they can comply with variations in the surface to which they are applied, and in order to enhance their ability to carry cleaning fluid into the region between the scrubbing faces provided by the ends 45 and the floor, the ends 45 are provided with slits 47 running radially toward the center of the aperture 46. Advantageously the slits fall in planes which are not normal to the major face of the scrubber elements, and therefore are not parallel to the axis of drive shaft 36 when mounted upon the shaft.

In assembling a group of scrubber elements on the shaft 36 alternate elements 43 are maintained in alignment so that the generally cylindrical form of the scrubber element group is broken by generally quadrant shaped regions positioned in quadrature around the cylinder. This enables an open area to be carried past the surface being cleaned with each quarter revolution of shaft 36 to carry the cleaning fluid from trough 25 to the floor surface in the region effectively contacted by the scrubber element faces 45 and insures that the leading edge 48 of each face 45 will flex under pressure to assure an adequate overlap in its contact of the floor surface with that region of the floor surface leading edge of the next adjacent scrubber element.

In one successful embodiment of the cleaning head and elements, scrubber elements each having a maximum dimension in their major plane of five inches and an are having a radius of 2 /2 inches for the scrubbing face 45 with a width of two inches have been made up of five layers of cotton fabric molded in neoprene to form a body thickness of inch for each unit. A plurality of these units have been assembled on a shaft 36 in face to face relationship with 57 units compressed of an 18 inch length of the shaft. This scrubber group, when driven at 1200 revolutions per minute while the scrubber head is subjected to a biasing force of 30 pounds normal to the floor, effectively removes virtually all marks on asphalt, rubber and vinyl floor coverings with a solution of one part of commercial floor wax and nine parts of water. It

is believed that the relatively high speed of the cotton neoprene scrubber elements across the floor tend to heat the floor covering and cause a penetration of the water and wax, thereby releasing or loosening the soil upon the floor. The resultant floor surface appears to have little or no wax residue and to have an extremely uniform appearance over all areas treated.

While the cleaning units of cotton fabric embedded in neoprene having five layers of fabric interleaved with neoprene in a inch thickness have afforded the best cleaning results, it is believed that one particularly advantageous aspect of the cleaning operation derived from this equipment and method resides in the frictional reaction between fioor coverings and neoprene when the neoprene is formed to carry cleaning liquid to the region where the cleaning action is occurring. The cotton fabric is belived to provide a medium for carrying the liquid between the neoprene and floor surface by virtue of its liquid absorbant qualities. Successful cleaning action has also been achieved where the neoprene working face has been formed with cavities which pick up and carry liquid to the floor surface. Thus variations in the form of the working face which provide a means of carrying cleaning liquid to the region where the neoprene is rubbing across the surface to be cleaned are within the concept of this invention.

The elastomer embedded fabric cleaning units can advantageously be of forms other than those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. For example, they can be in the form of circular pads 61 having both neoprene 62 and cotton 63 exposed at the working face. Such pads can be mounted so that the major surface of the circle is the working face. and can be rotated about an axis 64 normal to the work-- ing face. In order to insure the introduction of cleaning fluid to the working face and the surface to be cleaned the working face should be provided with open regions,

into which the fluid can flow. As in the case of conventional floor scrubbers, this fluid can be introduced near the axis of rotation of the pad.

Another utilization of the elastomer embedded fabric cleaning unit is illustrated in FIG. 5. In that construction the cleaning action of the neoprene embedded cotton fabric is supplemented by additional cleaning units 49 which may be brushes, metal wool pads, or fabric such as canvas or nylon. Cleaning units 49 can conveniently be made up in cylindrical form and mounted with their longitudinal axes parallel to the axis of shaft 36. They are arranged so that a portion of their exposed surfaces extending along their length will be carried into contact with the surface to be cleaned as shaft 36 is rotated. This can be done by employing them as right circular cylinders of a diameter which fits within a projected cylinder coaxial with the shaft 36 and of a diameter equal to the maximum transverse dimension of the cleaning units 43 so that the outermost walls of the supplemental cleaning units are essentially tangent to the projected cylinder and bear against the portions of the chords 44 of adjacent cleaning units 43 which are not in overlapping relation to partially fill the generally quadrant shaped cavities in the cleaning unit assembly 144. It has been found convenient to secure the supplemental cleaning units in each of the four cavities in order to maintain dynamic balance of the cleaning unit assembly. The supplemental cleaning units can be wired in placed by embracing them with wires 51 which are drawn sufficiently tight to be pulled below the surface of the supplemental cleaning elements which contact the surface to be cleaned and extend between the cleaning elements 43.

It is to be understood that variations in the form of the scrubber elements can be undertaken and that different elastomeric materials can be used other than neoprene although it has been found that natural rub-oer softens under the proposed usage and therefore is not as satisfactory as the synthetic elastomers. Further the driving speed of the scrubber units over the floor and the working pressures can be varied without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention. Therefore the above disclosure should be read as illustrative of the invention and not in a limited sense.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In a cleaning machine, a shaft mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis, a plurality of cleaning units mounted upon said shaft, each cleaning unit comprising a sheet including a plurality of liquid absorbing filaments embedded in an elastoiner and having its major plane normal to said shaft, each of said units having an arcuate marginal re ion having the same given maximum separation from the longitudinal axis of said shaft and adapted to be carried over the surface to be cleaned by the rotation of said shaft, a marginal portion of each of said units having a spacing from the axis of said shaft less than said maximum spacing, said cleaning units being mounted on said shaft in face-to-face relationship with said arcuate marginal regions displaced from said arcuate marginal regions of adjacent cleaning units, means to rotate said shaft about its longitudinal axis and means to bias said shaft toward said surface to be cleaned.

2. In a cleaning machine, a shaft mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis, a plurality of cleaning units mounted upon said shaft, each cleaning unit comprising a sheet including a plurality of layers of liquid absorbing fabric embedded in an elastomer and having its major plane normal to said shaft, an arcuate marginal region on each said unit having a given-radius from the axis of said shaft and adapted to be carried over the surface to be cleaned by the rotation of said shaft, a marginal portion of each said unit having a spacing from the axis of said shaft less than said given radius, said cleaning units being mounted on said shaft in face-to-face relationship with said arcuate marginal regions of each unit displaced from said arcuate marginal regions of adjacent units, means to rotate said shaft about its longitudinal axis and means to bias said shaft towards said surface to be cleaned.

3. In a cleaning machine, a shaft mounted for rotation about a longitudinal axis, a plurality of cleaning units mounted upon said shaft, each cleaning unit comprising a sheet including a plurality of liquid absorbing filaments embedded in an elastorner and having its major plane normal to said shaft, each of said units having a pair of diametrically opposed arcuate marginal regions of the same uniform radius from the axis of said shaft and adapted to be carried over the surface to be cleaned by rotation of said shaft, each of said units having equal segments removed from diametrically opposed sides thereof intermediate said arcuate regions, said cleaning units being mounted on said shaft in face-to-face relationship with said arcuate marginal regions displaced from said arcuate marginal regions of adjacent units, means to rotate said shaft about its longitudinal axis, and means to bias said shaft toward said surface to be cleaned.

4. In a cleaning machine a shaft mounted for rotation about a horizontal longitudinal axis, a plurality of cleaning units mounted upon said shaft, each cleaning unit comprising a sheet including a multiplicity of layers of cotton fabric bound together with neoprene and having its major plane normal to said shaft, an arcuate marginal region on each said unit having a given radius from the axis of said shaft and adapted to be carried over the surface to be cleaned by the rotation of said shaft, a marginal portion of each said unit having a spacing from the axis of said shaft less than said given radius, said cleaning units being mounted on said shaft with said arcuate marginal regions displaced from said arcuate marginal regions of adjacent units, means to rotate said shaft about its longitudinal axis, and means to bias said shaft toward said surface to be cleaned.

5. A combination according to claim 4 wherein said cleaning units each have a form in the plane of the sheet material of a circle having the center of said shaft as a center and having parallel chords defining absent equal segments on opposite sides thereof, said cleaning units being mounted on said shaft with the chords of adjacent units in quadrature to each other, and sup lemental cleaning units mounted in the region bounded by the portions of the chords which do not overlap on adjacent units and the projection of a cylinder having the diameter of said circle and the center of said shaft as an axis, said supplemental cleaning units being tangent to said projection of said cylinder.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 410,895 9/1889 Hentschel 15-181 X 464,843 12/1891 Bagger 15-24 X 678,054 7/1901 Snyder 15-181 865,098 9/1907 Gaudron 15-181 976,342 11/1910 Cannon 15-23 X 1,176,990 3/1916 Scherff 15-50 1,582,773 4/1926 Nash 134-6 1,638,591 8/1927 Merrill 15-49 1,884,387 10/1932 Thorne 15-50 1,951,851 3/1934 Turner 15-23 2,078,437 4/ 1937 Anderson 51-193 2,327,495 8/1943 Budner 134-6 2,328,998 9/1943 Radford 15-159.1 X 2,476,537 7/ 1949 Erickson 15-98 X 2,609,642 9/1952 Peterson 15-159 X 2,960,712 11/1960 Hayer 15-23 X 3,013,289 12/1961 Sasena 15-181 3,069,711 12/1962 Lappin 15-50 3,083,390 4/1963 Wroten 15-103.5 3,121,895 2/1964 Burgoon 15-50 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CLEANING MACHINE, A SHAFT MOUNTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A LONGITUDINAL AXIS, A PLURALITY OF CLEANING UNITS MOUNTED UPON SAID SHAFT, EACH CLEANING UNIT COMPRISING A SHEET INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF LIQUID ABSORBING FILAMENTS EMBEDDED IN AN ELASTOMER AND HAVING ITS MAJOR PLANE NORMAL TO SAID SHAFT, EACH OF SAID UNITS HAVING AN ARCUATE MARGINAL REGION HAVING THE SAME GIVEN MAXIMUM SEPARATION FROM THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID SHAFT AND ADAPTED TO BE CARRIED OVER THE SURFACE TO BE CLEANED BY THE ROTATION OF SAID SHAFT, A MARGINAL PORTION OF EACH OF SAID UNITS HAVING A SPACING FROM THE AXIS OF SAID SHAFT LESS THAN SAID MAXIMUM SPACING, SAID CLEANING UNITS BEING MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT IN FACE-TO-FACE RELATIONSHIP WITH SAID ARCUATE MARGINAL REGIONS DISPLACED FROM SAID ARCUATE MARGINAL REGIONS OF ADJACENT CLEANING UNITS, MEANS TO ROTATE SAID SHAFT ABOUT ITS LONGITUDINAL AXIS AND MEANS TO BIAS SAID SHAFT TOWARD SAID SURFACE TO BE CLEANED. 